Outboard motor with independent steering unit



Aug. 25, 1959 c. R. COTAL 2,900,947

' OUTBOARD MOTOR WITH INDEPENDENT STEERING UNIT Filed Sept. 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR (XR .60 Za Z ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 c. R. COTAL OUTBOARD MOTOR WITH INDEPENDENT STEERING UNIT Filed Sept. 27, 1957 Aug. 25, 1959 INVENTOR CIR C 0 Z'aZ ATTOIQNEY QUT OARD MO WITH NIT This invention relates to an improved construction of outboard motor and more particularly to an outboard motor having a simplified steering mechanism whereby the propeller and propeller skeg or rudder maybe turned independently of the drive housing and power head through an arc of 360 or more for steering a boat propelled by the motor while moving either forward or in reverse, and for effecting movement of a boat propelled by the motor in reverse without requiring reversing the direction of rotation of .the propeller.

More particularly it is an aim of the present invention to provide an improved construction of outboard motor wherein the drive shaft housing can be mounted immovably with respect to a boat transom and can immovably support the power unit thereon whereby vibrations of the motor are absorbed by the boat hull and dampened by the water in which the propeller of the motor operates.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a motor which due to its rigid mounting relative to a boat transom minimizes vibration of the steering wheel or handle.

A further object of the invention is to provide an outboard motor wherein the solid mounting thereof relative to the boat hull minimizes vibration of the carburetor and ignition parts thereby enabling such parts to be maintained much more readily in proper adjustment to insure maximum engine performance and longer trouble-free service from these and other engine parts.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an outboard motor which, due to its solid mounting relative to a boat hull, may utilize more solid and permanently fixed connections in connection with the fuel supply line, throttle control and steering mechanism thereof and without risk of breakage due to vibration.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a boat motor possessing all of the versatility of an out board motor together with the smooth operating characteristics of an inboard type boat rnotor.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become. more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an outboard motor constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view partly in elevation thereof, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2?.2 of- Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan view thereof, with the power head removed;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view through the drive shaft housing, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, illustrating a portion of the steering unit, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevational view showing a steering handle substituted for the steering pulley of Figures 1 and 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the improved outboard motor in its entirety is designated generally 8 and includes a drive housing 9 which is prefer ably in the form of a single casting and whichhas a horizontal flange 10 at its upper end on which is supported the bottom 11 of the casing 12 of a conventional outboard motor power head 13. The casing bottom 11 is secured to the flange 10 by fastenings 14. The hoursing 9 has a recessed upper end 15 which communicates with an opening 16 in the casing bottom 11.

The casting forming the housing 9 has a relatively large bore extending longitudinally and substantially vertically therethrough, as seen in Figure 2. The upper end of said bore 17 opens into the recess 15 through an upwardly facing surface or shoulder 18 of the housing 9. Thelowerend of the bore 17 opens downwardly through the cavitation or anti-slip plate 19 of the housing.

A sleeve 20 extends longitudinally through and is" turnably disposed in the bore 17 and is provided with longitudinally spaced external enlargements 21 forming bearing portions which contact and are journaled in the wall of the bore 17, adjacent the ends of said bore and intermediate of the ends thereof. The sleeve 20 has an enlarged portion 22 which extends downwardly from the plate 19. The lower endv of the sleeve portion 22 merges with the top portion of the gear casing 23, which contains suitable bevel gears, not shown, for connecting the propeller shaft, not shown, to the drive shaft 24. A conventional propeller 25 is fixed to an end of the propeller shaft and is disposed beyond the rear end t v of the gear casing, as is conventional. The gearcasing 23 has a propeller skeg or rudder 26 extending downwardly from the intermediate portion thereof. The drive shaft 24 extends longitudinally through the sleeve 20, in which it is loosely disposed, and is journaled in hear lugs 27, one of which is mounted in the upper end of the bore of the sleeve 20 and another of which, not shown, is mounted in the gear casing 23.

The sleeve 20 has an externally threaded upper end i 28 which is disposed above the upper bearing portion 21 and which extends upwardly from the shoulder 18 into the recess or cavity 15. A bevel gear 29 is dis-,- posed in the recess 15 and is secured to the upper portion of the sleeve 20 by a nut, 30, so that the sleeve 20 will rotate with the bevel gear 29., The nut 30 engages the threaded sleeve portion 28 and bears on the upper side of the bevel gear 29. The underside of the gear- 29 is preferably supported for rotation on a wear strip 31 which bears on the upwardly facing shoulder 13 and is. disposed partially around the upper end of the bore'17.

The drive housing casting includes a forwardly projecu ingportion 32 located near the upper end of said drive.

housing. The recess. 15 includes a downwardly extending portion 33, which is d sp sed betw en the m n r po tion of the bore 17, and the forwardly extending portion,

32, Said portion 32 has; a bore 34 extending; from end to-end therethrough, the rear end of which opens into i the cavity 33. Bearings 3 a di posed, in the. ends of the bore 34 to pr vide journa s or a tins haft d6 cavity 33 and meshes with the bevel gear 29. The other end of the shaft 36 projects forwardly from the bore 34 and is shown in Figures 1 and 2 with :a conventional steering pulley 38 nonrotatably connected to said forward end of the shaft 36, and which pulley may be connected in any conventional manner by cables, not shown, to a steering wheel of a boat.

A conventional transom clamp 39 is connected to the he e l14 an wh c ha ar as end projecting into the cavity 33 and keyed to; a, bevel x gear 37. Said bevel gear 37 is loosely disposed in the drive housing 9 beneath said forwardly extending portion 32 thereof by a conventional tilt-up bearing 40. A frangible pin or other fastening 41 extends through one of the'transom angle adjusting holes 42 in the 'lowefpart of the transom clamp 39 and through the lower front part 43 of the drive housing 9, .so that with the fastening 41 applied, the drive housing 9 is rigidly connected to the transom clamp 39 unless the fastening 41 isremoved or isv broken by the lower part of the outboard motor striking an obstruction, whereby the fastening 41 is sheared to permit the motor to swing upwardly about the tilt-up bearing 40 to'pass over the obstruction without damaging the motor. f 1

An exhaust passage 44 is formed in and extends from end-to-end through the drive housing 9 and has a lower outlet end opening downwardly and rearwardly beneath the cavitation plate 19. A passage 45 likewise extends longitudinally through the drive housing 9, between the exhaust passage 44 and the bore 17, for supplying Cooling water to the engine of the power head, not shown.

It will be understood that the upper end of the drive shaft 24 which extends into the power head casing 12 may be connected in any conventional manner to the drive shaft, not shown, ofthe engine. It will thus be apparent that the drive shaft 24 may rotate freely in the sleeve for driving the propeller 25 and that the steering shaft 36 may be turned in either direction for'turning the meshing bevel gears 29 and 37 to cause the sleeve 20 to be turned in either direction in the bore 17, so that said sleeve, the gear case 23 and propeller 25' may be turned in either direction relative to the drive housing 9 and drive the position of the propeller 25 will be reversed so that the outboard motor 8 will then propel the boatastern and that the steering shaft 36, with the propeller 25 thus disposed, may be turned in either direction for steering the boat propelled by the motor while backing. 'It will also be apparent that these steering operations may be accomplished without any movement of the drive housing 9 or power head 13 relative to the boat. Thus, due to the rigid positioning of the drive housing and power head relative to a boat transom, vibration of the motor may be reduced to a minimum and more rigid types of connections may be utilized in connection with the fuel and ignition systems of the engine than is possible where the motor must swing relative to the transom clamp.

It will be readily apparent that a crank type manual steering handle 46, as illusrated in Figure 6, may be substituted for the steering pulley 38, or the steering shaft 36 may extend sufficiently beyond the steering pulley I claim as my invention:

1. An outboard motor comprising a single casting constituting a drive housing, a transom clamp rigidly connected to an upper and forward part of said drive housing, said drive housing having a recessed upper end, a power head including a casing mounted on said upper end of the drive housing and'supported solely thereby,

; means detachably fastening the power head casing rigidly to the drive housing, said drive housing having a bore extending longitudinally and substantially vertically therethrough, a sleeve extending longitudinally through and journaled in said bore, an elongated gear casing con- *rlected to and supported by said sleeve beneath and spaced from the lower'end of the dr'r'e housing, the axis of said gear casing being disposed at an angle to the axes of the sleeve and drive housing, a propeller, means forming a driving connection between the propeller and v the power head and supporting the propeller for rotation beyond an end of said gear casing, said last mentionedi means including a drive shaft extending longitudinally through said sleeve and having a lower end extending into the gear case and an upper end extending into thepower head casing, said drive housing having a second bore 38 so that the handle 46 can be mounted thereon beyond in the upper portion thereof having one end opening forwardly from the drive housing and an opposite end opening into a portion of said recess, said last mentioned,

bore being disposed at an angle to the first mentioned drive housing bore, a steering shaft extending through and journaled in the last mentioned bore and having a rear.

end extending into said recess and a forward end projecting forwardly from said second bore, steering means con-.

nected to the forward end of said steering shaft, and

meshing bevel gears turnably disposed in said drive housing recess for connecting thesteering shaft and sleeve,

one of said gears being keyed to the steering shaft and .2. An outboard motor as in claim 1, the gear fixed to said sleeve being disposed insaid recess aboove a substantially flat upwardly facing wall of the recess, said:

sleeve having an externally threaded upper end, and a nut threadedly engaging the upper end of said sleeve and 'bearing on theupper side of the gear of said sleeve for retaining said gear immovable relative to the. sleeve and in meshing engagement with the gearconnected to the steering shaft.

3. An outboard motor as in claim,2, and a wear strip I supported on said upwardly facing wall and on which the underside of the gear, secured to the sleeve, engages for rotatably supporting the sleeve within the first men-' tioned drive housing bore. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,958,997 Harrison May 15, 1934 2,039,535 Irgens May 5, 1936 2,384,436 Bossen Sept. 11, 1945 2,522,545 Sharp Sept. 19, 1950 2,691,954 Shively Oct. 19, 1954 

